This updates the public library action research (Librarians’ Leadership for Lifelong Learning) presented for IPPA in Philadelphia 2011 and Montreal 2017. The research focuses on unleashing curiosity through libraries, sparking informal self-directed learning to help individuals and communities achieve their full potential.
Public library data in Delaware organized within the Dewey/Maslow services framework reveals that increasingly, more people are in crisis and require social services assistance. In 2019, qualitative analysis of a decade of library stories of serving people in need resulted in a draft taxonomy and sequence of services to establish a more stable foundation for people to move forward. The University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration facilitated feedback from social services partners and published recommendations in the Delaware Journal of Public Health in September 2020. Currently underway, Unite Delaware has launched a technology infrastructure to automate referrals among partners. Libraries are facilitating participation in the national Baldrige Communities of Excellence to improve partnerships.
During the pandemic, the national outcry in the news about police brutality is an example of the need and opportunity for libraries and community partners to coordinate their expertise more effectively and seamlessly throughout the social infrastructure. Through improved coordination, the community partner with the appropriate expertise should provide the pertinent service at the point of need.
Individuals must have their basic needs met first, in order to thrive. A crisis is an opportunity for change and improvement. A systematic collaboration and seamless system of services among community partners will improve the social infrastructure and enable wellbeing for all!